Pumpkin Wine???

   / Pumpkin Wine??? #1  

Flatheadyoungin

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Being that we are raising our first garden, I was talking to my grandpa about it's progress. He used to farm a lot and has a lot of input for me....

Well, one thing that he didn't pay much attention to that his dad did was make pumpkin wine. Grandpa claims that his dad would cut a round hold in the top edge of a pumpkin and then stuff it (with he'd guess) 4lbs of brown sugar. Then, g-grandpa would put the plug back in it and let it continue growing on the vine.

Grandpa said, "Now I never did drink but I know dad made it and it tasted really good. I don't know if it had alcohol in it or not."

Have you heard of it? I haven't tried a google search.

Do you think it would ferment?

How many lbs of brown sugar do you use?

Do you put it in a month, week, couple of days before they're ready to pick?

I may try this next year. I think I've missed the pumpkin growing season here in Ohio, haven't I? At least for Halloween?
 
   / Pumpkin Wine??? #2  
Being that we are raising our first garden, I was talking to my grandpa about it's progress. He used to farm a lot and has a lot of input for me....

Well, one thing that he didn't pay much attention to that his dad did was make pumpkin wine. Grandpa claims that his dad would cut a round hold in the top edge of a pumpkin and then stuff it (with he'd guess) 4lbs of brown sugar. Then, g-grandpa would put the plug back in it and let it continue growing on the vine.

Grandpa said, "Now I never did drink but I know dad made it and it tasted really good. I don't know if it had alcohol in it or not."

Have you heard of it? I haven't tried a google search.

Do you think it would ferment?

How many lbs of brown sugar do you use?

Do you put it in a month, week, couple of days before they're ready to pick?

I may try this next year. I think I've missed the pumpkin growing season here in Ohio, haven't I? At least for Halloween?

Pumkins need to be started so that you can transplant them out around the middle of June here in Northern Indiana. If you plant them too early they face frost damage and/or ripening too soon and rotting in the field before Halloween arrives. Plant them too late, and you have green pumpkins, which look funny, but are still carvable for Jack O Lanterns. Also, you can use green pumpkins to make pumpkin soup. I've never heard of pumpkin wine. Something fermenting out in the field just sounds scary! :D
 
   / Pumpkin Wine??? #3  
PUMPKIN WINE



This essentially is Leo Zanelli's recipe and he swears by it. The sugar is high and will produce either an 18% alcohol dry wine or a lower alcohol sweet wine, depending on what yeast you use. If you want the high alcohol, use a high alcohol yeast such as Lalvin K1V-1116 (Montpellier) or Wyeast 3347 (Eau de Vie), both of which can handle the extreme sugar. If you want moderate alcohol but sweet wine, use Red Star Côte des Blancs for 13% alcohol with 5% residual sugar. For slightly less sweet, use Lalvin 71B-1122 (Narbonne), ICV-D47 (Côtes-du-Rhône), Lalvin Simi-White, or White Labs WLP730 Chardonnay White Wine for 14% alcohol and 4% residual sugar, or Lalvin AMH (Assmanshausen), Lalvin BGY (Burgundy), Lalvin CY3079, Lalvin ICV-D80 (Côte Rôtie), or White Labs WLP720 Sweet Mead/Wine for 15% alcohol and 3% residual sugar. Read the yeast descriptors at Strains of Wine Yeast for correct nutrient and temperature requirements for the strain you select. Begin this recipe in the morning so you have time to complete the tasks without having to awaken in the middle of the night.


Pumpkin Wine


  • 5 lbs grated pumpkin flesh
  • 3-1/4 lbs finely granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp pectic enzyme
  • 1/2 oz citric acid
  • 1 tsp yeast nutrient
  • 1/4 tsp yeast energizer
  • 1 finely crushed and dissolved Campden tablet
  • 6-1/2 pts water
  • wine yeast (see above)
Grate the pumpkin flesh mechanically (recommended) or by hand and set aside. Do NOT place chunks in a blender and attempt to chop them. Bring the water to a boil and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Remove from heat. Place grated pumpkin flesh in primary and pour boiling water over pumpkin. Allow to cool to room temperature and add finely crushed and dissolved Campden tablet. Cover primary and allow to sit 8-10 hours. Add pectic enzyme and allow to sit overnight. Next morning add citric acid, yeast nutrient, energizer and activated yeast. Cover primary and stir twice daily for three days, submerging "cap" as necessary to keep moist. Pour through a nylon straining bag and let pumpkin drip drain. Transfer to secondary and fit airlock. If you did not recover a full gallon of liquid, wait 5 days and top up as necessary. Rack after two weeks and again after additional 30 days, topping up and refitting airlock each time. Set aside for 3 months and then rack, stabilize, sweeten if desired (unlikely you will need to but...), wait 3 weeks for dead yeast to fall out, and rack into bottles. Set aside to drink next year at Thanksgiving or Christmas. [Adapted from Leo Zanelli's Home Winemaking from A to Z with major modifications by Jack Keller]


Can you do it in the field during growing season?? I make wine as a hobby around 150 gallons a year, belong to a Wine Guild, and I sure would not try it.
 
   / Pumpkin Wine???
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Well, that's what I told my grandpa- that I didin't think it would ferment and that it wasn't really "wine." I'd just say that it makes the pumpkin taste very sweet. He just knew his dad called it pumpkin wine.

This is why I was curious.
 
   / Pumpkin Wine??? #5  
Well, that's what I told my grandpa- that I didin't think it would ferment and that it wasn't really "wine." I'd just say that it makes the pumpkin taste very sweet. He just knew his dad called it pumpkin wine.

This is why I was curious.

If it has sugar, it will ferment. Even plain apple jiuce will make a cider. Just leave on the counter at room temp with the lid partially opened. There are enough wild yeast on apples, you will get about a 3% "soft" cider.

Pumpkin by itself would probably make a weak "wine", even with yeast added; there just would not be enough sugar. Unless, it is fortified like Jimmyp5 noted above.
 
 
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